My life in the center of the world -- musings on my family, community (local, global, physical and virtual), people and more. Oh and of course, a few words on tech related start-ups, within the context of living in the ulimate start-up with humble goal of repairing the world. Venture backed by over 3,000 years of history, thought, culture, and angst.
By Jacob Ner-David

November 18, 2012

When I left Israel, there was a momentary ceasefire in the "low level" violence being directed at southern Israeli towns by various militia in Gaza. I purposely say militia instead of "terrorists" because as the world is now aware, we are in a state of war with those in Gaza who have been using psychological warfare on and off for many years. Terrorists and terrorism can sometimes elecit a sense of martyrdom for a cause, to perpetuate the idea of the underdog. War, on the other hand, is simply war. And at times armies, acting on behalf of a nation, commit war crimes, attack civilian populations with no just cause.

This is the situation we are in. Hamas has been at war with Israel for many years, we are only know fully acknowledging that reality.

During a ceasefire in the war, Israeli political and military leadership took a decision to act upon a war room priority of killing Jabaari, the Hamas military chief. Similar to the US decision to hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden, who also was a political and military leader.

I personally think the world would have been a better place if we had brought Bin Laden forth to stand tribunal for his crimes, and sentence him to a life imprisonment pondering his fate. Yes, I am against the death penalty at all times, even for someone like Bin Laden. When there is a ticking bomb, however, we do not have that moral luxury -- and so at times we are justified in acting. Was that the case with Jabaari? Did our political and military leaders feel he was a ticking bomb, destined to commit further war crimes if we did not act in time? Perhaps. And so maybe there was a justified moral compromise. I do not know.

What I do know is that taking out of the equation one of the symptoms, without treating the core issues, is not a morally acceptable strategy.

If we have momentarily defused a bomb, wonderful -- but we must follow it up immediately with an intensive move to cure the disease, not only the symptoms. Gaza has been, since the ill-planned pullout, a stew of hatred breeding intense hatred. Is all of that Israel's "fault?" Of course not, Gaza shares a border with Egypt, under both Mubarek and his successor Musri that border has been closed -- and so are the sea, air, and other land borders controlled by Israel. Israel helped create a State of Gaza, with it's own political and military leadership. We are at war with that State -- but at some point we will want to live at peace.

And of course there is also the slowly developing State of West Bank, which we are fighting but is taking shape regardless. Will these two states merge? Maybe, but not our call. We need to make our peace with both of them, with an intensity matching or exceeding that of war.

When I was in Silicon Valley I visited with an Israeli friend whose company was recently acquired, and as a result he moved with his family to Silicon Valley to see through the integration of hs company into the acquiring entity. When I asked him how he was doing on a personal level, he said he only has one complaint about his new life in Silicon Valley..."that he has nothing to complain about." Only an Israeli would complain about there being nothing to complain about!!

And yet his statement represents the success of the bubble that Silicon Valley culture created, and within that bubble all is good. Can the Silicon Valley bubble be pierced? Popped? Sure, we have seen it happen. But that bubble is largely an economic one -- and those living at the "borders" of that bubble are somewhat indifferent, and when the bubble bursts are not so directly affected. Israel for many years has been behaving like a bubble, and those attempting to burst our bubble were operating with toothpicks going up against a super industrial strength bubble -- with a very thick skin. Poke us all you want, we don't feel it -- until the tooth picks get sharper, and pierce deeper (rockets in Tel Aviv). We cannot afford in Israel, or in neighboring States, for our bubbles to burst. We will not bounce back, as does Silicon Valley.

On my way back to Israel, an Israel that has woken up to the state of war it really is in, I think how we need to pursue peace at the same level of intensity that we fight our wars. We have finally started to stand and fight in a war that has been raging for some time. I pray that we can finish the war as quickly as can, and then start fighting for peace.

I bless us that we bring Israel to the point where Israelis can complain that there is nothing to complain about -- and then we will know we really did create our own version of Silicon Valley.

May 22, 2011

Before reading President Obama’s speech I saw this FB status update flash across my screen from a fellow Israeli friend, someone I always assumed was “mainstream” Israeli:

“#obama can go F himself big time - this is the person who represents himself as a friend for israel? he's our worst enemy”

OK, so what prompted such a harsh reaction? I went to read the speech…and honestly cannot understand what got this friend so upset… (see here for full text of speech). A Palestinian state based on 67 borders with land swaps – isn’t that what several Israeli Prime Minister s proposed? And recently past heads of the Mossad, IDF, and Shabak (Israeli FBI) called for the same negotiating parameters. I think my friend above was reacting to reactions…I don’t think he read the speech! This is a symptom of living life in 140 characters, the limits of a tweet. A lot gets missed.

My personal take on all of this is that Obama was really holding back. Bibi has told the world for two years that he wants to re-start the peace talks, that he supports a 2 state solution, and yet he has done nothing to further that goal, in fact has gone out of his way to continue settlement activity (beside a weird ten month lull in building, which was observed in the breach). Bibi has refused to come to the Israeli people with a plan for us to support or reject. Bibi is not preparing the Israeli people at all for any eventual path to compromise which might lead to more peaceful relations with our neighbors.

Bibi and friends operate from a false sense of certainty that Israel will be the “winner” of the turbulence sweeping the Middle East and the world. As someone who cares deeply about the future of this experiment we call the State of Israel, I am extremely troubled by Bibi’s lack of humility.

The State of Israel has existed for 63 years, but there is no guarantee it will continue. By might we will not survive. Our only hope is to maintain our moral right to continue as a sovereign nation. And for years that moral right has been slipping away – not because the world does not want to see a viable State of Israel, but precisely because the world expects so much of a viable State of Israel.

Bibi continues to harp on the demand that everyone, including the Palestinian people through some of their formal institutions (PLO, PA, Hamas government in Gaza) recognize the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people. In fact, it was President Obama yesterday who reiterated this, and the American government’s commitment to: “Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people.” Personally, I don't need my enemies to recognize the justness of my existence. More important that my friends support me.

But what kind of “Jewish state” does Bibi envision? One of stagnation and occupation?

For 44 years we have kept Judea and Samaria (and its residents) in limbo. In East Jerusalem we half-heartedly annexed land, but never brought the infrastructure up to the level of West Jerusalem. We do everything we can as a government to disenfranchise Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. As I have often said, if we truly want to keep East Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, we need to invest. We need to campaign for the residents of East Jerusalem to participate in municipal politics (as a rule, for 44 years East Jerusalem Palestinians have not exercised their rights to vote or participate in the administration of the city).

I referred above to State of Israel as an experiment. And an experiment it is, it could be a model for many of our neighboring states on how a State formed and based on a religo-nation can conduct itself – how we can take the best of our religious tradition, synthesize those values and ideals with the modern recognition of the values of liberal democracy and show off a taste of Messiah. Not the Armageddon of some, but the realization of the Jewish age-old pursuit of “tikkun olam,” of fixing the world.

But experiments can also fail.

Bibi and many others take great pride in Israel’s start-up culture. My friend Saul Singers book “Start-Up Nation” has become a best seller because there is an underlying statement that in a start-up anything is possible. Israel is a state of dreamers, and as a State it dreams as well. But as one who has lived his life amongst start-ups for some time, I call upon us to remember that most start-ups fail.

I do not want this start-up to fail. It is the big, outdated companies that are slow to move, do not react to changes in the marketplace, fail to innovate. Israel as a modern nation is still in its start-up phase, and should be moving at a start-up pace.

We need to re-invigorate a sense of entrepreneurship in our political realm. And then we will begin to merit the status of “Start-Up Nation.”

May 16, 2011

For the past five years I have served as the Managing Partner of Jerusalem Capital I, LP, a venture fund I willed into existence, helped and supported by partners, investors, and of course my family. Now I am in the process of winding that down – and rediscovering who I am and what I want to do with my time.

During the past five years Haviva and I welcomed two additional children into our lives (Mishael, who joined the family over three years ago, and most recently Shefa, born two months ago), continue to raise our other five children, moved from Jerusalem to Hanaton where we are helping establish a new community, and much more.

In parallel, in my role as seed stage investor, was part of the formation of six companies, two of whom are alive and making progress. The other 4 – victims of the statistics of start-up life. Yes, along the way there was 2008-2009, which was a good excuse for many failures, but those 4 might have failed regardless.

So where does that leave me? Well, I can genuinely say I still am very interested in technology, entrepreneurship, and the constant innovation that makes up the start-up ecosystem in Israel and around the world. I know that as a board member, I can add value. But I also know that at 42 years old – I still have the strength and endurance to do it again directly – to start something new. Even if I do manage to return capital with a profit from the fund, which remains a driving motivation for me, I would not raise another fund. For me, the VC business is a lot of talking about, not enough doing. And I am doer.

The most important message we try to import to our children is “be who you are.” Some might be familiar with the hasidic tale of Reb Zusha, who fears not being judged against the achievements of others, but rather being questioned in the world to come as to whether he was the best Reb Zusha.

I also try and remain open to new possibilities, and that together with realizing what I want to do led me to deciding to go back to my roots – yes, I am co-founding a start-up, where my role is CEO. We (my co-founders and I) are setting out this week to begin our formal fundraising, after giving the “idea” much thought. I am sure we will continue to shape and reshape our plans in light of feedback we receive from the venture community and our potential business partners.

I am excited to going back to being who I am -- a “start-up” guy. Coming together with people who have chosen to work with each other, exploring new ideas, challenging each other, and creating something from nothing.

There are no guarantees of success in this business, but definitely will be a fun ride, and I will be who I am.

I will keep you posted on my progress, but in light of so many changes, I am renaming and moving my blog, but will continue to cross-post for some time. Will notify of new blog very soon.

March 28, 2011

What could inspire me to blog after such a long "rest?" (a deserved rest, I might add, what with new daughter, 6 other children to parent, marathon to run, companies to start, etc.)

Well, the color of money. No, not the funky colors of Israeli monopoly money, but the good old greenbacks of US of A, a land where anything is possible, including raising $41 million dollars for a start-up that had NOT EVEN LAUNCHED A PRODUCT. And they are proud, check the press release here. And proud they should be -- showing off the heights of lunacy in America today.

Yes, I am talking about the recent news item that the legendary VC firm Sequoia Capital led a $41 million round for the company known as Color. What does Color do? I am not quite sure, but thanks to my new friend Tal Givoly I was alerted to this review. Check it out for a laugh, in a sentence I will take this in a more serious direction...

In searching through the web for clues as to how this insanity happened, I stumbled across an interview Color founder Bill Nguyen gave to Business Insider. You should read it in its' entirety (here), but let me just dwell on a few choice lines. Before I do, let me expose something about my relationship to Bill -- we don't know each other, but have bounced around similar circles. When I co-founded Delta Three, he founded OneBox, both playing in VoIP space. When I was focused on mobile email/apps in founding NomadIQ, Omnisky, 2bAnywhere, he was doing Seven. And so on. Bill has made a LOT more money than I have at this start-up game, but like me still loves it. So he is somewhat of a kindred spirit. OK, now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

In the interview, Bill is asked many questions. But what astonished me was not all the nothing he had to say (after all, there is no traction, no growth, no rave reviews, just a lot of money sunk in). What astonished me are the following:

"There's not much we can do about the money we raised, I'm not giving any of it back."

Wow.

And then when asked for the "business model" behind Color, he said:

BN: Advertising through the app. We're going to build a intelligent system that allows businesses to participate with their customers. So when you walk into a restaurant and you use Color, and they're also customers through a self-service Web interface -- or actually a self-service iPad interface -- every time you walk into the restaurant, your [first] name will show up with your picture. The maitre d' or receptionist will know who you are, they'll be able to welcome you, they'll know the last time you were here, they'll be able to see pictures if you took them here. They'll be able to provide you better service than they've ever before, that's going to drive up their revenue by increasing repeat business because we always want to go back where we feel welcome.

BI: They would pay you for that capability?

BN: Exactly

Double wow. He actually said his business model is....someone seeing your picture on an iPad when you walk into a retaurant. And someone paying for that. Heck, I would pay for that not to happen.

I am not going to enter the debate as to whether we are in a bubble or not...for another time, maybe after it bursts (oops, gave myself away there). But regardless this story is fascinating.

On the one hand, I love the fact that serial entrepreneurs can command massive investment on the basis of....whatever Color is, or will be. On the other hand, the VC community has forgotten that they are supposed to be professional investors. How much is Bill himself investing? That's what I want to know. After all, he has a shekel or two. If the answer is zero, than something is very wrong with this situation. Here we have a very wealthy tech guy, being given more money that 40 standard start-ups combined to develop...a photo sharing app that claims it is something else?

This sounds to me like some serious laziness on the part of Seqouia, and their tag along co-investor Bain Capital. At least they should give Bill a slap on the wrist for the line about not giving the money back -- or perhaps this is Bill's twisted way to improve the Palo Alto economy, by robbing from the rich and giving to the...rich?

Anyway, if anyone out there is listening, please help me understand the Color of Money.

August 29, 2010

In general I respect David Pogue from the The New York Times, who has been writing a blog/column tackling technology subjects and making sense of new products and features for the common folk (which usually I consider myself). But two days ago Mr. Pogue took on a subject dear to my heart, and a significant part of my entrepreneurial career, that of internet telephony (as a founder of Delta Three I helped pioneer the field in the late 90s).

According his recent post, entitled "Google Shakes It Up Again With Free Phone Calls", Pogue believe that there was something new and innovative in Google's announcement that one can now click on a contact in Gmail and call a "real" phone number, whether land line or cellular. According to Pogue, this revolutionary new service from Google, called "Voice Calls from Gmail" (wow, that's catchy....much better than what I coined, PC2Phone) allows you to, get this, make free phone calls from your computer. WOW! Except, well, that was news about 13 years ago, commercially available 12 years ago. And the free calls to phones in North America -- that was pioneered by a now defunct company called Dialpad about 11 years ago!! (And then copied by Delta Three, Net2phone, and all the other IP Telephony players in late 90s).

The big difference -- we could only talk about making money from advertising, Google actually knows something about it. Google gives away Gmail and the basic storage because the incremental costs for them are low and they can monetize to some degree. But still way over 95% of their revenue comes from search. Would be nice to know what revenue Gmail actually generates (I mean even the accompanying ads).

Oh, and by the way, Mr. Pogue, even if you couldn't be bothered to research the history of IP Telephony (or at least call my good friend Jeff Pulver who in 2 minutes could have given you the history, much of it he was responsible for...) you at least could have acknowledged that Skype's revenues are over 86% due to SkypeOut, but most of that not calling North America. SkypeOut makes most of their revenues from people calling places where tariffs are still relatively high.

And Skype has a nice embedded community of users, years of experience. Google's weak attempt is not much of a threat.

So what happened with Mr. Pogue? Well, either he was taken to a really nice dinner by a VERY nice Google PR person, or he simply just didn't know that that there is nothing new here. Same same.

Seems to me that Google is running out of steam and innovation, and is reaching for low hanging fruit to convince people that they are still the Kings of the net. But I think they are looking a lot like MSFT. And by the way, Mr. Pogue, good old MSFT came out with a similar service in...2001. (see this story from CNET (remember them)

April 18, 2010

A few hours ago we heard the first siren beginning Israel's Day of Remembrance to her fallen soldiers (both those in uniform and those not, but lost for their belief in a free and independent State of Israel).

In thinking about all those lost on the battlefield, all those lost in the coffee shops, on the buses, and those just caught up in all of it, I so hope and pray that someday soon we enjoy peace. May their memory be a blessing to all of us, and may we make sure they did not die in vain...let's do what we can to bring peace closer, so that no more lives be lost. And let Reb Shlomo help you dream of peace.

December 15, 2009

This Friday morning is the celebration of the new month ("Rosh Chodesh") of Tevet, which as usual makes it a special day, when the days of holiday of Hanuka are raised to even higher level with the double celebration of Hanuka and the New Month. As on every Rosh Chodesh a dedicated group of women will gather at the remnants of the Second Temple (known as the "Western Wall" or at times the "Wailing Wall") to usher in the new month together, as they have been doing for 21 years. These women come in rain or shine, no matter what else is happening in the world or around them.

For close to 13 years my wife, Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner-David was a very active member of this group. After we moved to the Galil 6 months ago she has not attended in person. But she will there this Friday morning, as a celebration of the holiday and as an act of solidarity with all women (and men) who seek to express their spirituality in ways other than the official ultra-orthodox position.

Below is a letter from a friend of ours, Rena Magun, which I think says it all, inviting all who can to eb physcially present at the Wall this Friday morning. I will be here in Hanaton, with some of our kids and meeting together with our fellow pioneers in building a new community, but with deep feelings and connections to Jerusalem, our home for 13 years and the heart of the Jewish people.

I pray that this Hanuka our ultra-orthodox brethren will realize that the Wall represents the destruction of the Temple and the Second Jewish commonwealth largely because of senseless hatred ("Sina'at Hinam") and the last thing we should be doing on Hanuka is fighting amongst ourselves, but rather respecting all the wonderful ways to be Jewish today.

As some of you know,
on Nov 18th a young woman named Nofrat Frankel was arrested (!) at
the Kotel for wearing a tallit. She was praying as part of the monthly Rosh
Chodesh gathering of Women at the Wall that has been going on for 21 years this
month. You can read more about their history and ongoing struggle with
the Israeli legal system at http://womenofthewall.blogspot.com/.

For me, a woman who
wears a tallit, Nofrat's arrest was frightening and deeply disturbing. On
the one hand, I long ago stopped relating to the Kotel religiously because I
feel so alienated as a woman when I pray there. On the other hand, how
can it be that almost all over the world, a woman can feel free to wear a
tallit, EXCEPT at the Kotel in Jerusalem,
the holiest of cities. The reason given is that the Kotel is considered
an Orthodox synagogue, and that people praying there must respect those
norms. What was once the small annoyance of an old woman giving you a
shawl to wrap around your shoulders or legs if you weren't modestly dressed,
has evolved over time into gender segregated entranceways (!), a complete ban
on groups of men and women praying together even way, way back in the Plaza,
and now an arrest for wearing a tallit.

THE KOTEL
DOES NOT BELONG TO THE ORTHODOX ESTABLISHMENT IN THIS COUNTRY. IT BELONGS TO
ALL JEWS.

On Friday morning,
Dec 18th, Rosh Chodesh Tevet, the 7th day of Chanukah, at
7:00 am,
Women of the Wall will be gathering to daven with their tallitot under their
coats. If enough women come, they will open their coats. Imagine if you will, what would happen if thousands of
women with tallitot came to join the davening…it is not an impossible
feat. If we all come out, it could easily happen.

For those of you who
don’t usually wear a tallit, consider doing so this once (and maybe afterwards
as well) as a statement of solidarity for the struggle for religious freedom
that these women have been waging for 21 years. After all, one day you or
your daughter might want to wear a tallit at the Kotel. Right now that is
impossible, and without your help it may remain impossible forever.

PLEASE
FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO MIGHT COME OR HAVE FRIENDS WHO MIGHT COME.

I am sad to say I
have removed my contact info from the signature of this e-mail for fear of
reprisal from extremists.

November 09, 2009

The first was the launch buzz surrounding the new book by my friend Saul Singer and his brother-in-law Don Senor, entitled "Start Up Nation ." Essentially tackling the question many have asked over the past twenty years -- how did those guys living in a desert, with no natural resources, cut off from their region, turn their country into an economic power house? Well, part of the answer is most certainly the high-tech wave of the past twenty years, which I have been privileged to ride in and benefit from, and still am immersed in today. The entrepreneurial "can-do" spirit of the country, and several other factors, have led to the success of the high-tech sector in Israel and the economy in general.

For a pumped up interview session on CNBC with Dan Senor, see here. I think only living in the US can you remain as excited as Dan seems to be about life in Israel...which leads me to the next issue.

Second major news item is the fight of the Israeli farming community (here read mainly agri-business, not small farms, more on that below) to import more "foreign workers" from Thailand. The farming community is loose coalition of Kibbutzim (theoretically socialist leaning), Moshavim (diluted kibbutz) and some large private farmers. All of these are almost exclusively Jewish controlled. Most non-Jewish Arab (Muslim, Christian, Druze) farmers are small operations that do not import workers from abroad. What are the farmers demanding when they say "foreign workers?" Do they mean highly skilled labor that one cannot find in these parts? NO! They mean CHEAP LABOR, ready to work at wages far below Israeli minimum wage. In fact, so cheap it's worth flying them here, housing them, feeding them, etc., for years on end. Sounds like...yup, pretty close to slavery. Or at least indentured servitude. Certainly not very progressive. How did this happen, only a few short years after great waves of Israelis in the last century built up a major farming industry? Well, one is because there was a flight away from working the land to working the keyboard, or at least working in a room where there are keyboards...farming became seen as passe, low chance for upward social mobility. We drifted away from our roots as a modern society based on self-sustanaibility to one slammed by the wave of globalization. If the profitablity of the Israeli farming community is based on importing 5-10,000 Thai workers. we have an emergency situation on our hands. Agriculture here, like in many places, is a completely government and God controlled enterprise. God supplies some water, the land, and then lets government mess it up from there. Government decides the price of water, land use, and controls the price of some of the output of the agriculture (milk, bread, vegetables). Perhaps instead of importing workers from Thailand, we should be paying livable wages to Israeli citizens to work in agriculture. Maybe the "profit" would be less, but it's an artificial industry to begin with (OK, so I don't believe any market is truly "free," but this one is very far from free...).

Most Israelis today do not see the agricultural economy first hand, so they really don't think about where their vegetables and milk comes from -- I have started to pay a bit more attention now that I am a member of an agricutural community (and yes, have started to be be physically active, we are in the midst of our olive harvest, if you want to come help out, will get some oil for your labor...). When we brough our first wave of olives into one of the neighboring olive presses a few weeks ago, I looked around, and did not see a single Thai worker. There were families from Kfar Manda, keeping alive an agricultural tradition going back centuries. And us proud few from Hanaton, who picked our olives and will eat our olives (and olive oil), the way it should be. In freedom. Without any "foreign workers."

September 22, 2009

See this interview with my good friend Jeff Pulver on the "State of Now" and the "Real Time Internet." Oh, and by the way, Jeff thinks Twitter is worth billions. Now. Well, good thing Jeff is public that he is a shareholder, we wouldn't want him to be objective about this company...

September 14, 2009

No words can describe the tragedy that has befallen the Jewish people and the Ramon family. Asaf Ramon, the son of the legendary Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, who followed his father's footsteps in the Israeli Air Force, died today when his F-16 fighter jet broke apart over the southern Judean desert.

We can only hope that the Ramon family finds some solace knowing so many mourn along with them. May they never be the victims of horrible statistics again, and only know joy.

And may the memory of Asaf Ramon be a blessing to us all, reminding us of the selflessness that still exists in our nation.